Kathua, January 29
Without being in the thick of action, Captain Sunil Chaudhury felt he was him not doing his duty.
He was such a man.
On Tuesday, they brought home to Govindsar village in Kathua and cremated him with honours deserving of his bravery.
Capt Sunil, only 27, had fallen to insurgents’ bullets in Assam, a day after he was decorated with Sena Medal.
Call it the irony of his death, the whole village came out to line the streets as his body was taken to the cremation grounds on an Army vehicle, to the sounds of their band playing mournful tunes.
Just 24 hours earlier, they had been preparing to celebrate Sunil’s medal.
The poignancy of the tragic event was evident. Lt-Colonel P. L. Chaudhary, Sunil’s father, broke down when the pyre was lit. “He made me proud, what else can I give to my nation? I gave two of my sons for the nation. I have lost one,”
he cried out.
“When Sunil told me he had been decorated, he asked me: ‘Father, do I make you feel proud of me?’ My eyes had welled up. I wish I could tell him now: ‘Son, you make me even more proud in your martyrdom’”
Captain Chaudhary’s mother agony was overwhelming. She fainted several times at the last rites.
Flying officer Ankur Chaudhary, the younger brother of the Captain who had come from Bangalore to pay homage to his gallant brother, said Sunil had died like a hero.
“Sunil was a fearless man and passionate and tough soldier. ‘He always volunteered to go for tough missions,” he said.
A family member said so fierce was Sunil’s commitment that he postponed his marriage in November last year as he had to take part in an anti-insurgency operation in Assam.
Brigadier K.S. Jaswal, Sub-area commander of Kathua, was among those who paid tributes to the young man.
Other top Army and civil officers, minister for health and medical education Mangat Ram Sharma and Chaudhary Lal Singh, MP, were also there to say a final goodbye to Govindsar hero who died so others could live and for whom the wedding bells did not chime...
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| Lt-Col
P.L. Chaudhary, father of Capt Sunil Kumar Chaudhary who died
fighting insurgents in Assam, along with his younger son Flying
Officer Ankur Chaudhary and wife at the cremation in Kathua on
Tuesday. (Right) Army officers paying homage to their departed
colleague. — Tribune photos by Anand Sharma |
